Quinta do Vallado – Wine Hotel

 Casa Antiga

Imagine yourselves in one of the most idyllic regions in the world, Douro, and in one of the houses of the most legendary figure of the region… that image will certainly forward you to Quinta do Vallado!

Built in 1716, this Quinta belongs to the mythical Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, and it’s one of the oldest in the Douro Valley, remaining till nowadays in the hands of her descendants.

Ala Nova of the Wine Hotel

And to me, a trip to Douro is always a great excuse to be happy, so, we went to Peso da Régua, along the banks of Corgo River, to know the Wine Hotel of Quinta do Vallado.

The Old Gate of the Quinta

During almost two centuries, Quinta do Vallado had as main focus the production of Port wines, later marketed by the Casa Ferreira (that also belonged to the Family), but already in the 90’s and with the vision of her descendants, the company extended its activity to the production, bottling and commercialization of wines with their own brand.

With all this evolution of Douro DOC wines, since the 90’s to the present, Quinta do Vallado also bet in wine tourism and more recently in the hotel branch, opening a Wine Hotel, in 2005. There are experiences that absolutely cannot be denied to the world and these direct doors to paradise couldn’t be closed to us mortals!

First Impression:
(Fortunately) we are used to first impressions of hotels in the middle of terraced vineyards, but this one is astonishing for its perfect combination of history and innovation.

As soon as we have a distant sight of it, we identify two different things, a house of warm orange tones and antique design, and a modern building, made of schist that fits harmoniously in the green landscape. Basically, everything promised a memorable stay!

We found ourselves hypnotized, trying to understand to which building we should head to, or where we would have the pleasure to stay; to the left, the historical building from 1733 (Casa Antiga), recently recovered, or to our right, the new building (Ala Nova), entirely built in schist, concluded in 2012 by the Architect Francisco Vieira de Campos.

We headed to the new building, which reception awarded our eyes with a wonderful basket of seasonal fruits and vegetables produced at the Quinta.

We were very well received by a nice, young employee that quickly made the check-in and guided us along the hotel, to our room.

As to the decoration, it completely blew me away, a combination of rustic and elegant, in a modern and contemporary context, but also with bucolic details.

Bedrooms:
These are distributed between the old and new buildings, five of them in the first one, and eight in the second. And they’re of three types, suite, superior and standard and differ little among them, besides the size of the room or the balcony.

We stayed in a standard, named “Currais” that kept the same details of the hotel, the schist always present, and elegance doing the honors!

The bed and the pillows assured a night of comfort, the balcony was in charge of amazing me with its view and the bathroom was my perdition, firstly for being entirely made of schist, which gave it an extremely sober environment, secondly for having a bathtub with a more interesting design than usual (square, not oval – and it gave me the most relaxing moment of the weekend!) and thirdly because the hygiene products where of one of my favorite brands, CastelBel from Porto.

                 To assure nothing was left to chance, we were also awarded with seasonal fruit, some delicious grapes, and a bottle of wine.

They definitely know the art of welcoming!

Restaurant

Restaurants:
The hotel has a nice living room where we can enjoy the amazing wines from the quinta and an area with coffee, tea and seasonal fruit, and also a dining room with lots of light due to its huge windows/doors to the patio, which view overwhelms the environment, giving it a mix of serenity and peace. The suspended fireplace gives it a remarkable charm and surely warms up the soul in the coldest months.

Bar

Here are served breakfast and dinner. We only had the chance to try the first, with delicious breads, excellent seasonal fruits, very good looking sweets (which we didn’t taste, because we’re going sugar free!), and with the option to order different things, in our case, an omelet and scrambled eggs with bacon (Can’t live without it!), unfortunately the Portuguese still haven’t accepted the French way of preparing eggs as the universal truth, them being undercooked, soft, smooth and full of butter (yes, I said Sugar free, not Fat free!), but well, it’s a common evil almost everywhere.

                 
As to dinner, we didn’t have the chance to try it, but it changes on a daily basis and is only available with reservation, being the harmonization with wines from the quinta included in the price.

Library

Services:
One of the places that fascinated me the most was the library, a room where we can get away from the outside world while being transported to stimulating moments of culture and idleness.

The pool is another place that doesn’t need introduction, although not having that desired image of infinity pool with Douro as background; it serves well its expectation as a relaxation place. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enjoy it, once we were at the hotel while Feira do Douro was happening (see), hosted by the DouroBoys, which was held in this very same complex, but what truly enlightens this area of the hotel is the path we must walk to get there, among fruit trees, gardens with varied vegetables and vineyards.

Being a Wine Hotel, obviously the majority of the activities are directly connected to the wine and gastronomy, so here we have the chance to visit the winery and the cellars, doing lots of wine tastings (I said it was a paradise), partake in show cooking and also buy our favorite wines in the wine shop.

                 
But life is not only made of food and wine (almost), so the hotel ensures a combination of tours for every taste, from bikes, boats and canoes to jeeps. Those wishing for a moment of greater insight can always choose fishing. And for a romantic moment, the hotel also organizes picnics, both in the river or on the top of the vineyards.

All designed to suit all tastes!

Service:
I think that virtually nothing is left to chance in this historical house, the staff is nice and organized and there’s attention to the little (big) details, which not always is seen at hotels, in general, as was the case of the welcoming detail waiting in the room and the good energy with which we are received.

What more could we ask of our  stay, the perfect design, the constant communion with nature, the great wines of Quinta do Vallado and the unique beauty of Douro.

                
More than this, just knowing that Quinta do Vallado continues to care for its people like Ferreirinha and therefore assumes the social responsibility of helping institutions in need, like the Associação Via Nova that houses abandoned children.

If you’re looking for a magical haven where wine and nature are kings, Quinta do Vallado is the perfect choice!

Quinta do Vallado – Wine Hotel
Rooms from 110€
Vilarinho dos Freires, Peso da Régua – Portugal
+351 254 318 081
reservas@quintadovallado.com

Versão Portuguesa

 Text: Cíntia Oliveira | Photos: Flavors & Senses

Disclaimer
We were at Quinta do Vallado Wine Hotel as an invitation, whereas this not alter our work, being the opinion and the text of the exclusive responsibility of the author.